February 20, 1999
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - As the Big Ten Championships concluded Saturday, the Purdue women's swimming and diving team closed on a good note, finishing sixth in the 400 freestyle relay. This was their highest relay finish of the meet. Senior Erika Whyte, junior Nikki Lively and sophomores Missy Bromley and Ginger Lakos finished in a Purdue varsity record time of 3:21.10.
"I thought our team swam very well, Purdue coach Cathy Wright-Eger said. "We were very pleased with our times. We had a majority of lifetime best performances. We need to keep recruitng and just do whatever it takes to get better."
The Salinas, Calif., native, Whyte ended a brilliant four-year career by placing 16th in the 100 freestyle in 52.58.
Freshman Karin Stender took 12th in the 200 butterfly 2:04.07.
Fellow freshman Leslie Lorenz grabbed 14th place in the 1650 freestyle in 17:10.67.
In the non-scoring exhibition platform diving competition, sophomore Kara Hajek placed ninth with 286.50 points, while freshman Molly MacFarlane grabbed 10th place with 270.10.
Purdue finished 10th of the 11 teams, accumulating 159 total points. The host Minnesota stopped Michigan's 12-year reign on top claiming the championship with 668.50 points. For a complete listing of final team standings, see the bottom of this page.
As a group, the Purdue underclassmen made a significant impact, with Stender, Lorenz, Bromley, Hajek and Lakos all scoring. In addition, fellow underclassmen Katie Mullarkey, Molly MacFarlane and Kelly Mackus all had solid performances.
Team Scores (final):
1. Minnesota 668.5 2. Michigan, 495.5 3. Northwestern 451.5 4. Wisconsin 374 5. Penn State 368.5 6. Illinois 334, 7. Iowa 275, 8. Indiana 234 9. Ohio State 18910. Purdue 15911. Michigan State 152